This is War
by Ferren-Z-one
Summary: This story goes through the timeline where Z-one saves Antinomy and it shows how he meets the rest of his friends and shows how he becomes who he becomes at the end of the series. AZshipping Z-one X Antinomy .
1. The Meeting

Zone looked down at the blue hair teen that he just saved. "Are you going to follow me?" he asked. "And help me on my journey?" he asked. "It's your choice. If you chose not, then we must part here but be safe. Stay away from populated areas because the Meklords can track people's hearts easier if it's a big crowd.

Johnny grabbed Z-one's hand "Please don't go..." He felt ashamed of himself, a turbo duelist, reduced to a sobbing wreck. He tried to stop his tears, but it didn't seem to work. "I need somewhere to stay... I can't be out here... not with those Meklords..." He pulled himself together a bit. "I'll help you on your journey; it's not good... for people to be alone."

"It's fine to cry, you know. It means you haven't hardened your heart and you will see great horrors. Its war and don't let it change you." Z-one said. He held onto Johnny's hand. "Yes. Having company will be nice. I have been driving a very long way. "He said. "I have a small camp set up outside the city. We should go there for now."

Johnny nodded. "That sounds... good..." He smiled slightly. "So we can take our D-Wheels there, right? I don't want to leave Delta Eagle behind..." He gave Z-one's hand a squeeze. "It's just... I'm not used to this... Why is this happening? First they tell me I can't synchro summon, and then this..."

Zone nodded. "Yes. Bring it with you." He said. He looked at Johnny. "It's true. The reason this is happening because we, as a race were evolving too fast, a greedy pace. It caused Momentum to spin out of control and summoned the Meklords. "He explained. "I will tell you more, but not here. It's dangerous. "He said. He got on his D-wheel. "I will lead the way"

Johnny went over to Delta Eagle and started the D-Wheel up. He wiped away the rest of his tears and put his visor back on. "Lead the way." He was still baffled at how Z-one looked so much like the legendary Yusei Fudo, and perhaps, he actually was Yusei, but... Johnny would ask those questions later. He pondered if he had contributed to the Momentum spinning out of control. He suddenly thought of something. "Are there others in the camp?"

: Zone shook his head as he started his D-Wheel. "No. Just me... I…failed in saving the people of this city" he said and took off. "I had moved my lab to the camp. I will find a way to change this fate" he added as he rode off.

Johnny followed Z-one and tried to think of something to say. Yusei couldn't fail at saving people... but maybe Z-one wasn't truly Yusei. "Lab?" Was this man a scientist of sorts? He knew that Yusei's father had been a scientist, but that was about it. He hadn't paid much attention to Yusei stories in the past. He looked around at the destruction. "I... I hope there's a way to change this... this fate..."

"We will never know if we never try." Zone said. "Momentum is still spinning with no way to stop it. I'm nervous that more than Meklords will appear" he said. "Do you have any combat training?" he asked Johnny. "If not, I can teach you"

Johnny nodded. "That's right. Always have hoped that we can change the things that have been broken." He thought about the next part for a while. "Combat? No, I'm a turbo duelist. I duel, but I don't fight." Perhaps he was a little afraid of fighting. "I guess you'll have to teach me."

"It's not that hard" Zone said. After a little while of riding, Zone sped down a dirt road that led to an opening in the middle of the woods. There was a small building standing there. "This is the camp and my lab." He said turning off his D-wheel. "This place used to be a hunter's club." He added.

Johnny stopped his D-Wheel behind Z-one's and looked around. "It's... peaceful... I guess..." He got off Delta Eagle and looked at the small building. "We're the only ones left..." He felt tears in his eyes again. The last two humans, or so it seemed. "Have we searched everywhere for anyone else? I mean... how can there just be two of us?" He was afraid, and unsure, and was still feeling quite ashamed for being in such despair.

"I suppose we should travel out of the city and see if we can find more survivors. I don't know if this affected the world or not. "He sighed softly."For now. We are safe" he said put a code into the door. It opened and the black hair man walked inside.

Johnny followed Z-one inside. He sighed and found a place to sit. He whimpered a bit. "All my friends... they must have perished. This whole city... Neo Domino... it's..." He held back a sob. His turbo dueling days were over, forever. He sighed. "We should travel outside. We may find others, and we can hope that this didn't affect everyone..."

Zone looked down at Johnny. He sat down beside him. "Like I said before, it's okay to cry. It means you are still human." The black hair man said. "You shouldn't bottle your emotions up. It will only eat you alive." Zone got up. "Feel free to look around. I need to back up some things before we leave. We will leave early tomorrow morning."

Johnny sobbed. "This city was my home for... ever... and now it's gone..." He couldn't stop. He could feel his whole being shattering. And it hurt like hell. He wiped his tears and looked around again. "Do we have a place to sleep?" He was tired from the events of the day. "I just... need to sleep a bit... I ... need to cope with this for a bit... And maybe things will be better outside the city."

Zone looked at Johnny and nodded. "The only place is my room and you can stay there." He said. He grasp on the other's hand and help him up. "It's this way" he said leaning Johnny to his room. "Rest well." He said turning and began to walk down the hallway.

Johnny took Z-one's hand and went to the bedroom. He sighed and took off his turbo dueling clothes, he wouldn't need them anymore. Now just in a t-shirt and shorts, he sat down on the bed and curled up. "Thanks..." he murmured as he closed his eyes. The next day would be a new day.

Zone worked through the night. He had to back up everything before he left and start anew. He would take a few samples, a laptop and a few other objects. Soon dull sunlight poked through the windows and Zone got up and began to put everything in some backpacks and loaded his D-wheel

Johnny slept relatively peacefully, he didn't dream of destruction or Meklords, but he did dream of happy things. He dreamed of turbo dueling with his friends, he dreamed of synchro summoning, and he surprisingly saw Z-one in his dream as well. The man had shown him so much kindness... He enjoyed the other's company. He suddenly woke up, feeling a cool breeze against his skin. He looked around. "Z-one?"

Zone finished putting the bags on his D-Wheel. The bushes began to move and Zone instantly reached to his side and pulled out his hand gun aiming for the bush. It continues to move and a white cat jumped out. It let out a meow and trotted over to Zone. The black hair man let out a sigh and put his gun away. He knelt down. "I'm sorry. There is no food for you here."

Johnny had headed outside and had seen Z-one with the cat. He walked over and knelt down near the cat. "Oh? You're hungry right? I might have a bit of food left..." He smiled at Z-one. "This cat... it's really cute. And it... It's surviving, even in this terrible place, it continues on." He went over to his D-Wheel and got a small bit of food out. "I need some left for me, kitty, but... maybe we can find some food outside of the city." He gave the cat the food and watched it eat. When it finished, he picked it up and smiled. He liked the feel of its soft fur against his skin. It was warm, and reminded him that there was still hope.

Zone watched the blue hair teen curiously. "You are fond of cats, Johnny?" he asked. It was rather adorable to see the teen be kind to the small creature. "I'm sorry, but the cat has to stay behind." He said not wanting to upset the other, but it would be impossible to travel with a cat unless it was in some sort of carrier.

Johnny smiled and scratched the cat behind the ears. "I love cats... they're my favorites." He looked around for something to use as a carrier. He finally decided on the bag he had with him. It was a cloth bag, and he went over, placing the cat in the bag. "There, you're comfy, right?" The cat gave a contented purr and curled up deep within the bag. Johnny smiled at Z-one. "See? I can make use of anything. I don't want to leave this cat behind. It may be the only one left here... And it could be lonely, just like I was..."

Zone blinked and smiled. "Clever" he said getting on his D-Wheel. "I pack also supplies. We have a little food and there is plenty of gas" he said. "So our D-wheel's won't run out." He added. The black hair man put on his helmet and took off. "I even have a map I drew out" he said.

Johnny put the bag with the cat in it safely on Delta Eagle. The cat peeked its head out and meowed a bit. "We'll find you food, kitty." He looked back at Z-one as the cat curled back up in the bag. "Food and gas are good things." He nodded and started his D-Wheel, heading off after Z-one. "Where are we going?"

Zone looked at Johnny. "We are heading south. Maybe we can find survivors hopefully." The black hair man said. Zone drove onto the high way. Cards were sitting everywhere and no one was in sight. "People tried to escape in a large group...it was their mistake"

Johnny looked at the abandoned cars. He shuddered. "This is worse than I thought..." He tried to re focus his mind on the cat and finding survivors. He looked up at the sky. It was cloudy, but not terribly dim. At least it wasn't completely polluted. He nodded. "Right, south sounds good. What's in that direction though?"

"I'm not sure. There isn't really any major city so I'm guessing small towns" Zone said as they continued to drive. He let out a small gasp at the sudden smell of rotting flesh. "An attack….it wasn't that long ago…" he said. "Johnny do not look to the sides of the road. Just focus your gaze on me"

Johnny felt the sudden need to throw up. The smell was terrible. He heard the cat rustling in the bag. It must have been bothered by the smell as well. He focused on Z-one. "We have to keep going... Isn't there a way to stop the Meklords?" He swerved his D-Wheel around a body and sighed. This was... total chaos.

"Shoot them in the chest will kill them. They are machines." The black hair man said. He looked at Johnny. " You have to get used to it. If you must, then vomit. " he said calmly.

Johnny shook his head. "N-no... I'm fine..." He sighed. "Is there a less violent way to kill them? Like some technique we could use...? Yusei Fudo... He used Clear Mind to defeat everything, or so I'm told..." He finally stopped his D-Wheel, unable to stay calm any more. He leaned over and vomited. It hurt. Everything hurt. When he found that he had nothing left to vomit, he looked up fresh tears in his eyes. The cat had peeked out of its resting spot and had put its little paw on his shoulder. He wiped his tears and kissed the cat on the forehead. "Let's keep going, okay? We just need to get somewhere else..."

Zone looked at Johnny with empathy. "Alright. " he said. "Let's just speed up and get out of this area quickly." He said as he began speed up. Yusei Fudo…..he tried to be like Yusei and it backed fired. People still died.

Johnny followed Z-one as they headed out of the area. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind. If he could get to Clear Mind then... well, he'd be happier, calmer, not such a wreck. He sensed Z-one was troubled. "I-Is something bothering you?"

Zone glanced back at Johnny and shook his head. "No. I 'm fine" he said. After awhile, the city was out of side and there was nothing but the open road. There were barely any cars and bodies around. "It's survival, Johnny. We must fight and we must do what it takes to survive. I hope you don't come to hate me because I rescued you."


	2. The Child

"What a mess." Zone muttered softly as he looked around the highway. It had been a month since he had met up with Johnny. "It was a massacre. They didn't have a chance" he said looking at the wreckage. Everything had been destroyed.

"These poor people." Johnny said. "You think we would be used to this." He said.

"You would never get to used to seeing death." Zone replied. "We need to harvest the gas from the cars. Our supply is getting pretty low."

Johnny nodded and got off his duel runner. The blue hair ex-duelist grabbed a container. The white cat popped out of the bag and began to follow him.

Zone looked around and his eye caught movement. He slowly reached for his hand gun and began to walk with caution towards a large truck.

Johnny blinked watching his friend. "Zone?" he asked.

Zone turned and placed a finger onto his lips. "Shh…" he whispered.

Johnny blinked and watched the other carefully.

Zone was by the truck door. He glanced inside and found nothing in the front seat and then glanced in the back seat. There was a blanket with a lump that was moving. Zone opened the door and was greeted with a swift kick in the face.

The black hair man stumbled back a bit. "Ow." He said simply.

"Don't you touch me!" a voice screamed from the blanket. "I-I got nothing that you want!"

Zone blinked and Johnny ran over. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I think there is a child in there!"

Johnny blinked and reached in grabbing the blanket.

"No! I don't have anything! Go away!" The voice exclaimed from under the blanket.

Johnny pulled it away and blinked a few times. "It's a kid."

There sat a child; no more than twelve years old wearing nothing but a large dirty t-shirt that was way too big for him. The child had blonde hair and lavender bangs. The child was also bleeding from the side of his head.

"We are not going to hurt you." Zone said to the frighten child.

The child frowned and grabbed the blanket back and wrapped it around his body protectively. "How do I know that?" he asked frowning.

Zone put his gun away and held up his hands. "I promise. Are you alone?" he asked.

"Y-Yes." The child said.

"What happened to your head?."

"I don't remember."

Zone blinked. "What is your name?"

"I don' remember."

Johnny blinked. "Why are you hiding in a truck?"

"I ran away from these really bad men."

Zone blinked. "Bad men?"

"They ride in big trucks and they find people and …they either kill them and take their stuff or kidnapped them if they are girls."

Zone frowned. "How awful." He muttered.

Johnny looked at Zone. "What should we do?"

Zone held out his hand to the boy. "Come on. Let me treat your injury at least." He said.

The blonde child hesitated and took his hand and got out of the truck. Zone led him over to his duel runner and pulled out a medical kit. "Just sit down and try to relax." He said.

Johnny blinked and smiled. Zone had a soft side and it was nice to see. The blue hair duelist began to harvest the gas. His little white cat trotted over to the child and began to sniff him curiously.

The child looked down and blinked. He smiled weakly and reached out petting the cat softly. It rubbed against his fingers and began to purr.

Zone looked over the head wound. It wasn't bad but it could be a contributing factor to the child's memory loss. "This is going to sting. I need to wash out the wound."

The golden eye boy blinked and nodded. Zone began to pour peroxide on the wound. The boy let out a cry of pain.

"It's okay" Zone cooed softly. "The worst part is over. "

The little boy let out a whine. "Okay…" he said. The white cat curled up on his lap.

Zone bandaged the boy's head. "What should I call you, little one?"

The boy blinked. "I dunno. I don't remember my name or anything about myself. You can give me a name." he said.

Zone blinked. "I see. I would have to think." He said as he finished bandaging the boy's head. "There. All done. "

Then there was the sound of a motor roaring. The child's eyes widen as he recognized it. "It's the bad men…" he whispered and held onto the small cat tightly.

Zone blinked and whistled to get Johnny's attention.

The blue hair teen stood and blinked. "What's wrong?" he asked trotting over to the two.

"Take him and hide." Zone ordered.

Johnny blinked and picked up the small child and hurried behind a large car.

Soon a black pickup truck pulled up beside Zone's duel runner. The truck door swung open and hit the motorbike making it fall over. Four large men got out; all of them armed. "Look what we got here boys." The leader said with a smirk. "A loner."

Zone frowned and stood there. "What do you want? Just go on your way."

The leader walked over to him. "I want the shiny bike of yours and all the stuff on it. You see, this is the end of the world and me and my boys wanna survive."

Zone just stared at him without saying a world.

The thug smirked. "Are you playing the hear? What is wrong with ya face?" he asked about the helmet. "Ya some kind of robot? You are one of those things aren't cha! "

Zone continued to frown. "It seems you do not have a brain in that little head of yours." He said. "You wouldn't understand if I broke it down to you."

The thug frowned. "Was that an insult?

"Maybe you do have a brain after all." Zone said. "Not a very good one I'm afraid. "

The thug became livid and aims his gun at the black hair scientist. "Shut the fuck up, you fucking freak and give me all of your shit!"

Johnny frowned and reached for his gun slowly. The blonde child let out a soft whimper.

"I won't." Zone said.

The thug was beyond angry. He pulled the trigger of his shot gun and it hit Zone's left arm with full force sending him flying back against the ground.

The blonde child's eyes widen and he ran out standing in front of Zone protectively. "Don't you touch him!" he screamed.

The thugs looked down and began to laugh. "Why, look who it is! It's the little brat that ran away from us!" the leader laughed. "You stupid fucker, you should of stayed hidden. Now you get to watch as your little friend dies."

The child frown as tears strolled down his cheeks. "Don't touch him! You filthy pigs!"

The thug growled. 'Shut up you little son of a bitch!" He went to smack the child.

"I don't think so."

The thug's wrist was grabbed and bent back to the point where it snapped. The thug yelled out in pain. Zone had grabbed him.

"How the fuck are you alive! I shot you point blank!" the thug snapped.

Zone smirked "I can't tell you that." He said kicking the thug in the face. The kick knocked him out cold. The other thugs watched in shock.

"Get your leader and go on your way or you will meet the same fate." Zone warned the others.

The thugs dropped their weapons and gathered their leader taking off.

Johnny walked over. "What the hell? How are you alive?"

Zone blinked. "I didn't tell you?" he asked. He pulled down his shirt showing metal plating. He then showed that his left arm and right leg were made out of a very strong metal.

Johnny blinked. "Well…that answers a lot." He said.

"I fear the shot to my shoulder damaged my arm a bit but I can fix it." Zone explained.

The small child burst into tears and hugged Zone's waist crying into his stomach. "I was so scared! I was scared you were dead!"

Zone blinked and smiled. He patted the boy's head softly. "It's okay. I'm fine, Paradox."

"Huh?" the boy looked up at him.

"Your name…I'm going to call you Paradox."

Paradox sniffled a bit and then nodded. "Okay."

Johnny smiled. "It's getting pretty late. Should we just rest here?" he asked.

Zone nodded. "Johnny. Check our inventory for clothing that might fit Paradox. "

The blue hair duelist nodded and walked to his duel runner.

Paradox blinked. "You...are not leaving me behind?"

Zone shook his head. "Of course not."

The blonde child smiled and hugged the other tightly. "You saved me. Thank you!" Paradox would follow Zone to the ends of the earth as his loyal follower; Forever.


End file.
